Could Mark Robinson be replaced as NC Republicans’ candidate for governor?
Update: The Thursday 11:59 p.m. deadline for Mark Robinson to resign his candidacy has passed. A spokesperson for the State Board of Elections said the board is unaware of any attempt by Robinson to do so.
After CNN published a report tying Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson to graphic, racist and offensive comments made on a pornography message board, at least one Republican candidate has called for him to drop out of the governor’s race.
But the North Carolina State Board of Elections says any candidate wishing to resign would have to do so by 11:59 p.m. Thursday.
A spokesperson for Robinson said Thursday he had no plans to drop out. In a video released on X prior to CNN’s report, Robinson described the forthcoming story as containing “salacious tabloid lies” and said, “we are staying in this race.”
Friday morning, after the deadline passed, the State Board of Elections said the board was unaware of any attempt by Robinson to do so.
Thursday was the deadline for candidates to resign because absentee ballots are set to go out to military and overseas voters on Friday morning, following several weeks of delays due to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s legal battle to withdraw his North Carolina candidacy.
Those ballots already have Robinson’s name on them — and any further delay to the mailing process would place the state in violation of federal law, which mandates that absentee ballots be sent out to military and overseas voters by Sept. 21.
This means it’s highly unlikely that ballots would be reprinted with a new Republican gubernatorial candidate.
However, state law says that if a gubernatorial candidate is replaced because he or she “dies, resigns, or for any reason becomes ineligible or disqualified,” the executive committee of the candidate’s party can nominate a replacement.
In that scenario, any votes that Robinson got in the election would go to a replacement selected by the North Carolina GOP’s executive committee. Few restrictions apply to the party’s replacement choice, though they are prohibited from selecting a candidate who ran in the same gubernatorial primary for a different party.
Other states, including Georgia and Louisiana, have laws allowing the state to post notices at polling places if there is a last-minute candidate withdrawal that is not reflected on the ballot.
This scenario was addressed in the state Supreme Court’s recent ruling on RFK Jr.’s ballot withdrawal lawsuit.
“I see nothing in our state’s election laws that would prohibit a similar notice at polling locations,” Republican Justice Richard Dietz wrote in his dissent. “These notices also could be sent to voters who requested absentee ballots. Indeed, I think our constitutional protections of voting rights would compel the State Board of Elections to take these steps.”
This story was originally published September 19, 2024 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Could Mark Robinson be replaced as NC Republicans’ candidate for governor?."
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to clarify that state law bars primary candidates from one party from replacing a candidate from a different party in the general election. An earlier version of this story misstated the scope of this law.
